Pygmy

I don't think trespassing violations are the DEC's realm , unless they involve fish and game violations or other conservation related issues.The people to call would be the troopers or the Sheriff's dept. That's not saying a fish cop couldn't issue a ticket for trespassing, or any other violation ( even traffic tickets). It's just that they usually handle conservation and environmental stuff and leave the criminal issues to the state or county cops.

Don't feel bad, Early... I am "photography challenged" when it comes to the computer also.. Something I must learn to do some day, perhaps right after I master brain surgery.. Sounds you had a beautiful morning on the river..In my opinion, low water improves river fishing, at least for bass and walleyes, because it concentrates the fish in the deeper runs and holes.. Nothing like the feeling of a smallmouth peeling off line with a stonecat, or "tonie" as we call them here on the Canisteo.. I consider those river smallmouths excellent table fare, also, nearly as good as walleyes or perch, IMHO...

My most sincere congratulations on this milestone, Eddie.. I'm just wondering how a pretty young thing like your lovely bride ended up with an ugly old fart like you... I suspect that you have some "hidden" talents....hehehehehe.

Okay Larry...It's fine beer drinking weather.. Wel.l...er.... I guess most any weather is fine beer drinking weather.. .... I went again this morning...Only got one keeper, but he was 28" and weighed 7 pounds...Those nice thick filets cook up nice, flaky and moist in the middle..YUM !!.. Got him at 5:20 AM...Only other walleye I caught today was a little guy, barely legal if that..Fortunately he was not hooked deep and promptly went back in the river to grow up.

I fished my local river this morning for walleyes... I had my best catch ever,,, Took a limit ( 5 fish) with the smallest a 19 incher ( 2 1/4 lb) and the biggest 29 inches ( 7 1/4 lb.) All on light tackle, 6 lb. test and a # 11 floating rapala ...I was wading and fishing light spinning tackle. This is only the third time I have limited out on marbleyes on the local small rivers, and my best catch overall.. Normally, if I catch ONE legal walleye in a morning (or evening) it is a good catch..Many times I don't catch any.. I'm hitting the river again tomorrow to see if my luck is holding out..

Looks like a very fine blade, Joe.... I am envious......

We got 1/2" of rain last night... The lawn is still growing like gangbusters... I think we have been lucky in my area ..Not a lot of rain but enough to keep things going.. Looking at the bright side, the turkey hatch this year should be excellent..

Great catch, Noodle...Thanks for sharing.... Still using the mealy worms ?

Good point, Growie....But I said it was CHALLENGING, not impossible... I once called in 3 bucks, a 5X5 bull elk and a big flock of mallards the morning after I enjoyed a double "feeding frenzy" order of jalepeno onion limburger cream corn willie fritters down at Consuela's House of Pleasure and Taco Emporium in Tijuana... Unfortunately, there was a troop of boy scouts camped just downwind at the time, and I barely escaped an assault charge due to the fact that a few of the little scamps nearly expired from asphyxiation.. Durn Mexicans don't have any sense of humor...

Hehehehe...He...She....Whatever floats your boat, Elmo Ol' Buddy... Actually there are advantages to being BISEXUAL... It effectively doubles your chances of getting a date on any given Saturday night...

Pat was truly one of a kind.. Remember his buddy Retch Sweeney ? How about his old woodsman buddy Rancid Crabtree ? Rancid was one of my role models, along with Al Bundy and Norm Peterson....

I yield to you, my friend...It seems that "stonecat" is the proper term.. Locally, I have never heard them referred to as anything but "tonys"... On nearby Seneca Lake, I have heard fisherman talk about catching lake trout on "stonecats", but the baitfish they were using were actually sculpins.. There is a little restaurant on the east side of Seneca on 414 not too far north of Watkins Glen named the " Stonecat Cafe'". It has a drawing of a sculpin over the entrance.

I believe the proper term for them is "stone catfish" .. They are a small species of catfish found in rivers and streams. A 5 or 6 inch "tony" as they are called here is a huge one.. Most of them are from two to four inches... They are carmel colored and have black eyes and VERY sharp spines on thier pectoral and dorsal fins. If they stick you, the wound THROBS much more than a bullhead/channel cat sting.. In river fishing, if you want to catch the biggest smallie in the hole, hook a tony through the lips and drift him through.. They work very hard for you, wiggling every minute, but if you are not careful they will run your hook and line under a rock.. Some guys fish them under a bobber to keep them from reaching bottom. I don't fish them much anymore, because I prefer to fish with artificials, but they are absolutely a great big bass bait in streams and walleyes love them too. I have tried them in the Finger lakes for bass, and for whatever reason, they don't seem to work as well there as they do in rivers, possibly because they inhabit flowing water and are not present in the lakes..

My #1 lure for smallies is a simple hair jig ... I use mostly 1/16 and 1/8 oz. on 4 or 6 lb. test. I tie my own. Cast it out and swim it back along the bottom. Any color is fine as long as it is brown or black....LOL.... This lure does not exactly copy anything, but it SUGGESTS many different favorite bass foods, such as hellgramites,crayfish, stone catfish or other small fish, and leeches...They also work well on walleyes and most species of panfish, such as rock bass and yellow perch. Another lure that works well is a plastic twister grub in either motor oil or Pumpkinseed..2" 3" and 4" all work, but my standby is 3" on a 1 1/16 or 1/8 oz. jighead. Many live baits work well, including minnows, crayfish,leeches and nightcrawlers...Don't gob your crawlers on the hook like you would for bullheads..Hook them once right in the nose and be prepared to feed the bass a couple feet of line before you set the hook. A local favorite river bait is stone catfish, or tonies as they are called locally..Hooked through the lips they are deadly on river bass, although I have never had good luck with them in the lakes. The all time champion bait for smallies, either in streams, rivers or lakes is the hellgramite, locally called "dobson"... Fish them on a jig head, generally 1 1/16 or 1/8 oz. with a #4 or #2 hook.. I break the head off and run the dobson on the jighead just as you would hook up a twister tail. Absolute dynamite bait for bass and all species of panfish..Hooked this way on a jighead, you can often catch 8 or 10 fish on a single bait... I like to drift fish them in a lake ( I fish Keuka most often) in water from 10-30 feet deep on the outside edges of weedbeds or dropoffs.. A light tackle approach works best with smallies..My standard rig is an open faced spinning reel spooled with 6 lb. test mono on a lightweight 6 1/2 foot Fenwick graphite..

Hey...Lambshitz spam post reminds me of my last trip to the heart of the dark continent.. The purpose of the expedition was to explore the remote and relatively unknown Viagra River basin, which is nestled in the heart of deepest, darkest Rwanda between the Levitra Mountain Range, and the vast, inpenetrable Cialis Swamp. It was led by Dr. Elliot Pfizer, and I went along to hunt game animals to provide food for the expedition. This trip resulted in the discovery of the famous Viagra Falls, which has since become a popular honeymoon destination for sexually dysfunctional chimpanzees.. It was on this journey that we encountered the primative Slipadictomee tribe, a small group of homosexual natives that inhabit the region.. Since they refuse to have sex with women, the tribe is rapidly becoming extinct. Thier only recruitment comes from hairdressers and interior decorators that they kidnap from the neighboring Hairybobo tribe, using thier own paramilitary group, known as the Rwanda Rump Rangers. The Slipadictomees live in mud huts, but they are all very neat and clean and all have matching drapes and carpets. Thier Afro hairdos are PERFECT... Our mascot on this expedition was a psychotic, semi-domesticated mountain gorilla named KUMQUAT, who bore a striking resemblance to Mike Tyson.. One night Kumquat got into some fermented coconut juice and went bonkers, and proceeded to bite the ears off from all the native packers. It really did not seem to bother them all that much to lose thier ears, except for one poor nearsighted fellow who could no longer wear his eyeglasses..

Anybody get to handle the new Henry 45-70 lever action yet ? They were supposed to be available to retailers in March or April, but from what I am reading on other forums, none have arrived on the gun racks yet. My local American Legion post ordered one to raffle last February, and they are still waiting for it to be delivered. They look interesting on Henry's website, and I like some of the features, like the ghost ring rear sight, but I'd like to get my hands on one to see how they handle...They do have one feature I am not crazy about..Rather than loading through a side loading gate like most centerfire levers, they load in the magazine tube like most tube fed rimfires..

I try to practice scent control myself, but spastic colon and flatulence make it challenging...

There's someone for everyone... Ain't love GRAND...??...

Hehehehe..Whatever floats your boat... IMHO a Remington Rolling Block in 45-70 with a tang peep would be much more interesting.. I suppose that is because I am an old fart.... The latest auto or selective fire rifles that I find interesting are M-14s and L1A1s, and I really prefer Garand M1s to both of them.... YAWN...I think it's time for my nap.

???? Am I missing something ????

The accubond would be a sound choice..Good rugged bonded bullet.. And of course the Barnes X series is a classic..I am a huge fan of that bullet. It allows you to go to a lighter projectile, hence higher velocity and flatter trajectory without compromising penetration....

Good luck , Santa.... Do you intend to reload for it ? I'd suspect you would want a stoutly constructed bullet. For years about the only 8MM cartridge commonly available stateside was the 8x57 or 8MM Mauser. Bullets designed for that cartridge might be pretty explosive at magnum velocities, especially the lighter ones such as the 150-180 grainers.

Yeah, problems can arise... I remember one time years ago I sent my ex-wife to Cox's to buy me a Seersucker Suit.. She went to Sears... ....

Hemp...?..Is that the kind you SMOKE..?...hehehehe..Just kiddin' of course... Growie, you sure do keep busy...You have a lot of stuff going on...!...My hat is off to you...

Rain doesn't have that much of an effect unless it is accompanied by low temps... Lots of old wives tales about why wet springs result in low poult survival.. The TRUTH is, wet weather COMBINED with lower than normal temps in late May and early June causes poults still in the down stage ( about the the first 2-3 weeks after hatching) to die from exposure...This year has been relatively favorable for good poult survival.. In a study done on the state land on Connecticutt Hill a number of years ago, the average hatching date for turkey poults was June 11th...With the warmer temps we had here this spring I suspect it may have been a week or two earlier..